An analysis of Rococo (OMORI), because he doesn't get enough love :)
This is an analysis of Rococo as a character, looking into almost every word he says and interpreting them. It's time to find out just how tragic this funny little artist man can be >:]
"I've been alone for so long... but after what feels like an eternity... At last... I have... an audience!"// "PLEASE LISTEN! I'M SO LONELY!!"
He's been alone for ages, judging by Sweetheart’s long-lasting relationship with Spaceboy, him falling in love and moving in with SWH when she got her castle 'as a young donut', and his loneliness . This is someone who hasn't spoken to anyone in years and is willing to beg for a bit of company.
He also clearly thrives on attention, both from this quote and the grand flamboyance of others, so being without that for so long must have been terrible for him. While 'what feels like an eternity' could quite probably be a hyperbole, he's had no way to tell the time since he's been literally trapped inside the walls.
The poor guy's so lonely . :[
"In the beginning was me... crying in a pod in the middle of space... witnessing my home planet blow up right before my eyes." // "I can still remember it all so vividly... Fire... Fire... everywhere... and then darkness." // "Even as a baby, I knew I was the sole survivor of my species... the last elf in the entire universe."
I know this is a Superman reference, but I’m going to treat it as its own separate thing for the sake of the backstory :)
Immediately, this shows us that he's lost his home as a child (being a literal baby when his planet was destroyed) alongside any family, friends or even people of the same species. He was completely alone from the start, and there's no way that something like this wouldn't cause issues later on.
Also, the fact that he remembers this shows two things: A- this affected him so deeply that it remains with him to the present day; and B- he can remember it despite being incredibly young. This means that it's likely he remembers a lot more , having such an extensive memory– e.g. everything that happened with SWH, too: them being close, her claiming 'Sweetheart is for everyone', himself getting abducted by the guards, every moment of living in the walls... It may be a stretch, but it's a possibility, and his storytelling shows that he may overdramatise his past a lot, but there are still some key facts within it.
The repetition of 'fire' makes it seem like he's almost reliving it, caught up in his memories. This is a tragic backstory already , and this is just the first 2 lines.
""So this is how it ends..." I thought."
There's no panic, no regret. Just pure, depressing acceptance. He was ready to die, knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop it and having been exposed to death so early on.
(This is also likely just something he made up remembering for the effect, but that shows that either then or later on, he realised he could very well have died in that desert. Ouch)
"Yet... In a stroke of luck, I was found by none other than a young DONUT by the name of SWEETHEART. She brought me to her family and they took me in as one of their own."
He and Sweetheart grew up in the same house, the same area of Faraway, best friends. They seemed to be like siblings, judging by her taking him in, them fighting, and knowing and caring about each other incredibly well. This makes her later betrayal all the more heartbreaking because this isn't just a woman Rococo's pined for before, but rather his entire world .
He never mentions Donut Grandma or any other relatives outside of this, just her. They don't mention him, either.
He doesn't have any friends, or a close bond with anybody , except for Sweetheart, who intentionally locked him in her walls for years. Again, Rococo's completely alone.
"It was a rough childhood. We fought frequently, but she would always win... If I fought back... Well... ..." // "Anyway! I learned to run! And I got quite good at running… But... there's only so far you can run." // "Yes, it was a hard time. But even through that suffering, I stood firm."
I have... A lot of feelings about this part.
He describes his childhood as 'rough' even after he was rescued, which is immediately a red flag. He says that he and Sweetheart fought frequently, and it doesn't seem like any adults broke up their arguments.
Then, Rococo says that SWH always won. They would get mad or disagree, but even as a child, Sweetheart refused to accept she was wrong. This says a lot about her character; Sweetheart's always been like this.
'Fought back' means that Sweetheart had to be fighting him in the first place, and Rococo just had to take it. He was getting hurt, either physically or verbally, on the regular.
The frequent ellipsis throughout show how difficult it is for him to remember and share this. He cuts himself off a few times, his voice trailing off, while never explicitly saying what Sweetheart did.
However, as a result of Sweetheart having different opinions to him, Rococo 'learned to run' . This means he had to be running from something, his forced cheer at the matter and determination to change subjects and make his story dramatic and lighthearted again demonstrated through the exclamation mark.
Then, there's the phrase, '...there's only so far you can run'. He's speaking from experience here, and it really brings to question again just what he had to run from, and why.
Furthermore, this is immediately followed by, 'Yes, it was a hard time', showing that he found simply growing up around her– and having reason to run– difficult. This is to be expected growing up with Sweetheart, but the fact that he didn’t seem to have anyone else means that she was his only company constantly. His childhood is far sadder than I initially realised.
'Suffering' again shows us just how much he endured as a child; I'll go back into this in the next point.
"Because even then, I knew everything had a purpose. I was sent to this planet and survived for one reason and one reason only... to repopulate my entire species."
Rococo ploughed through his 'suffering' for only one reason: he felt it was his obligation to repopulate his wiped-out species. That's... Actually really disturbing, when you think about it.
Rococo doesn't think he's alive for the sake of being alive. He doesn't think he was just fortunate enough to survive. He believes that he has been kept alive by the fates solely in order to procreate.
This is an impossible goal, too, since he is the only one left. There are no other elves for him to have kids with– even if they were, options for partners would be incredibly limited and based not on love, but necessity. At best, he could make hybrid elf-donut kids with Sweetheart, but he can't repopulate his species. What he views as his only purpose is one he isn't even able to fulfil.
This is also a huge weight on his shoulders. There would always be that sense of estrangement since he is the only one of his kind, his desire to make more showcasing even that hidden hope for those like him. Because people like to be around those of the same likes, interests and species , but for Rococo, that last bit's impossible.
Loneliness is the centre of his entire backstory, and has followed him relentlessly throughout.
"There is a conspicuous gap in my memory after this, so I'll fast-forward a few years." // "At some point... SWEETHEART and I fell deeply in love, became engaged, and moved to this giant castle together!"
This has some truly horrible implications.
Rococo, having remembered his time as a literal baby, lost an entire chunk of his memories as a (presumable) adult? It doesn't seem likely, and 'conspicuous' only further supports this.
The fact that this is immediately followed by him and SWH falling in love seems wrong , to say the least. Rococo has just said he suffered at her hands, fought frequently with her, learned to run because of her, and now, he doesn't even remember falling in love with her.
One moment, he's living in Orange Oasis with his adoptive family. In the next, he's engaged to Sweetheart in a giant pink castle with no clue how he got there.
What seems more likely is that Sweetheart, who loves people loving her , got frustrated with Rococo's lack of blind adoration and decided to do something about it.
It seems that here is when she encountered the Keeper of the Castle, who she begged to make the castle hers. In the Keeper's words: "That girl. She was an elaborate one.
This dwelling. It takes the shape of one's deepest desires. A place to return to. Somewhere to call home."
Her 'deepest desires' resulted in Rococo having a years-long gap in his memory before finding out he was apparently in love with and engaged to Sweetheart. He probably believed this, too, as by that point, he would have been affected by the Castle he now resided within.
The Keeper said he gave her "A castle full of riches, servants for her to command, a stage for her to flaunt her power". He does not mention Rococo, but this tells us about SWH's desire for power and reveals that the sprout moles are either of Sweetheart’s creation/wants or were tricked into loving her.
If it is the latter, the same would have likely applied to Rococo.
"We were inseparable, her and I... and we loved each other dearly! I would do anything for her, and I mean anything!"
The ellipsis here indicates either that Rococo looks back on this fondly or with unease. The following exclamation mark again shows that he's trying to make his story seem happy, trying to convince himself that the only person he was close to genuinely cared about him as a person.
The emphasis on 'anything' once again contradicts his feelings prior to the memory gap, suggesting that Rococo's mind has, in fact, been tampered with. There is no mention of SWH doing anything for him– only the Keeper' remark on her hunger for power.
Needless to say, this doesn't suggest that their relationship was particularly healthy .
"I was ready to spend the rest of our lives together... to grow old... and to raise hundreds upon hundreds of children!" // "Hmm... Thinking about it now, I wonder if I ever made that clear to her."
Again, he longs for people of the same type and is excited to fulfil what he believes is his purpose. He made it clear quite early on that he's always wanted to be a father, so him not mentioning this to Sweetheart ever seems unlikely.
Knowing SWH, she was probably far more focused on her own wants than Rococo's, regardless of his feelings. Their relationship was based off of what she wanted– and it seemed that Rococo grew a little too attached for her liking.
"Alas, all good times must come to an end. As SWEETHEART's fan base grew, she and I grew apart as well."
He views their relationship as 'good times', despite what he's depicted being sudden and unequally reciprocated devotion. As Sweetheart became more centred on her fame and fans, Rococo grew more and more alone.
Again .
"She began receiving gifts and letters from suitors from all over the universe... asking for a chance to prove their love to her."
The ellipsis once again shows his hesitation. He doesn't want to remember this, yet recounts it all the same as it is an integral part of his story. She’s the only person he has, and Rococo doesn’t want to lose her.
Don't forget that by this point, he and Sweetheart were engaged .
"Being her one true love, I was vehemently against this notion! But she wouldn't have it!" // "“SWEETHEART is for sharing!” she would say!"
They are planning on getting married by this point. Sweetheart is all Rococo has, and he has said that he would have done anything for her.
And yet, that wasn't enough for Sweetheart. Rococo is being perfectly reasonable here, yet once again, he suffered as a result. This is a sad echo of their apparent fights as children.
"..." // "So... one night while I was asleep... SWEETHEART and her servants tied me up and sealed me inside the walls of her castle."
The pause here shows his sadness at this, seeming to have to take a moment for himself before speaking. Here, his grandeur is gone, replaced by pure misery.
Sweetheart assisted in tying him up, and as the guards were manifested from her desires, them helping her get rid of him shows that she simply no longer desired Rococo.
This would have been traumatising in itself– being kidnapped in the middle of the night and aware enough to see your attackers–, but the fact that Rococo knew and trusted her so much makes this even sadder.
He had nobody else, and Sweetheart sealed him away for what was probably intended to be forever. Rococo, once again, was alone .
"I have been wandering aimlessly through the darkness inside the walls ever since... surviving off old TOAST and TOFU." // "Yes... You four are the first living beings I have seen since that fateful day."
Firstly... Toast? As in, toast that people become if they lose a fight? As in, toast that is essentially dead bodies?
Considering all of Sweetheart’s skeletons in the dungeon, it would not be a surprise if the corpses of those she executed were also thrown into the walls– anything SWH didn't want, after all.
Rococo, potentially having never been exposed to the concept of toast=person, had to survive off of this. What's even worse is that he could have known what it was yet had no choice but to eat it, supported by the use of ‘living’ in the above quote. This also means he's been here for a while , long enough to start starving and for SWH to make through multiple seasons of a show and date Spaceboy.
If that isn't a horrifying thought, then what is?
Secondly, he became absolutely isolated after this. Left with no closure and no explanation, Rococo can only wonder what went so wrong for this to happen.
Living in the walls means he could have been able to hear everything SWH was doing– including her courtship of Spaceboy and 'Sweetheart Quest for Hearts'.
Either that, or he’s been exposed to no other form of human contact for years. He's also in a dungeon , with no natural light and a distinct lack of hygiene or, well, anything really.
"Sniff... Oh... SWEETHEART... Why did you do it? Was I not good enough for you?"
He doesn't blame her. He doesn't blame the fans.
Rococo blames himself .
His idea of 'not being good enough' for Sweetheart is equivalent to him being locked in her walls to rot for years. This is someone who is very much not okay.
He has to stop himself from crying here, sniffing as he laments what he views as his failure. Because Rococo has been alone for his entire life, and Sweetheart was the only exception.
He loved her more than anything, so it's hard for him even after he's found to view her as in the wrong. Sweetheart, after all, was always the one to win their arguments, to do something that caused Rococo to run if he fought back.
!
"Sigh... For the last few years, I've had a long time to think." // "I kind of gave up on my dreams and all that stuff now... It all seems so far away and pointless..." // "So... I've decided to drop everything and become an artist instead!"
He's given up on his dreams. Rococo's main one was to repopulate his species, but now, he can't think of anyone who loves him. It takes two people to make a child, and Rococo's all alone.
So, he's left without a purpose. He has nothing to do but utilise his surroundings– until Omori & co. find him, Rococo believes he's never going to leave the dungeon. So, he decides to use what he has available.
And that's painting supplies. He aspires to become an artist, waiting and waiting for anyone to make art for. He's desperate to be commissioned, to have a purpose again.
We never actually see him leave the dungeon, but he had to be getting those bed upgrades from somewhere . Imagine, after years of solitude, Rococo finally manages to leave the walls, only to retreat back to them at the first possible opportunity. He doesn't know how to live anymore, how to be around other people.
He feels incredibly lonely, but can't find the strength to interact with others anymore.
Art becomes his only reason for existing, Rococo devoting every bit of his time to it until he masters it. But then...
"Thank you, fellow living beings. Through these few commissions... I feel as if I had made great leaps in my quest of self-discovery in the process. I am also very rich now." // "I can do no more for you! I truly feel complete!"
'Fellow living beings'. Rococo's so socially awkward by this point that it's not even funny (okay, maybe it's a little funny). He feels the need to remind himself that he is, in fact, still alive.
He 'feels complete'. There's nothing more for him. He is ready to pass away.
Now, Rococo has managed to 'find his purpose', be it what he originally intended or not. He's become as good as he can at what he focused on doing, except...
...There's nowhere to go from there.
Rococo will inevitably be left alone once again, trapped in a cycle of loneliness and purposelessness. If his purpose is to be an artist, how will he get any better than he already is? If he wants to spend his money, what will he use it on?
At the end of this story, just like the rest of the points throughout, Rococo is still alone.
He has money, he has his art, he has a comfortable bed, but he still possesses a total of zero friends. Omori and co. are customers. Sweetheart is in Deeper Well, working for the Slime Girls and not giving a toss about him. None of his adoptive relatives in Orange Oasis seem to care about him.
Rococo always has been, and seemingly always will be, all by himself– all the way up until he dies, just like the rest of his kind. He was never able to complete his original goal, he is left with nothing more to do after completing his last commission, and he has nothing more to spend his money on.
Because Rococo is alone once again
The End :)
Huh, that turned out a little longer than I thought it would. Oh well :)
Rococo's such a fun character but I barely see anyone talking about him, so I hope you enjoyed this little look into him! He's so silly and dramatic and angsty :D
Thanks for getting this far lol
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uhh my 2 cents of the SWH songs related to the tarot and meta narrative
♥ Dancing Devils: Begin Again
This song is about how unhappy the subject is in their relationship, and how their partner leaves them “Sad and scarred” However because this song is associated with The Devil, which represents attachment, addiction, and restriction, one can assume they feel an obligation or a dependency on the partner. One can infer that the subject’s partner is abusive or emotionally manipulative in some way. One interesting way I think this is illustrated is during Begin Again where the first devil seems to hang perilously off a cliff. The Fool dashes in to catch them before they fall, but in no time at all the dancing devil simply resumes flying and continues attacking the Fool. We understand that the devils have no trouble keeping themselves afloat and have the ability to soar through the air carefree, making this action seem like a very manipulative thing could do. This could be synonymous to a abuser pretending to be vulnerable to make a partner feel guilty enough to stay with them.
The subject realizes that this is a poor way to live, and recognizes the toxicity in their relationship, even though they have since dismissed the strife until now. “I have tried to forget all the pain and regrets“. The subject decides they must ‘begin again’ by leaving this person and finding a new love, but this is never easy to do. Initially the song ominously echos “Begin again” as though it were a foreboding warning, but as the song goes on and the subject describes their unhappiness, the phrase begins to change. It becomes not a fear of loss or abandonment, but of hope. If they can ‘begin again’ despite how difficult it can be, they have the opportunity to truly be happy. They overcome the devils their chained to and brave the new world set before them.
♥ Howling Moons: Dead Of Night
If the scenario for The Moon is to succeed the events of The Devil, then the theme and song here is about fear and uncertainty (which is what The Moon can represent). The lyrics for this song are very organic, in which the subject expresses “I don't know where to start In the search of the beat of your heart” emphasizing their anxiety to both being alone and finding love. In the level ‘Forest Ghost’ you follow and eventually ride a white deer which is a personification of The Emperor tarot card, which represents structure and knowledge. This could represent The Fool trying to find guidance in her time of change.
The chorus talks about how the subject still feels lost without a partner, but despite this they decide to “Shake the pain, break away, leave it all behind / With a hint of dawn I'm already gone”. Meaning that despite their fears they’re still determined to persevere. However, the chorus contrasts to this statement. It describes how the subject doesn’t feel any emotional attachment to new people the way they did previously, and that new people are “Perfectly void of life / Lovers like zombies”. Alternatively this could be describing how the subject is exhibiting these traits and is emotionally detached to further avoid emotional trauma and heartache.
The song goes on to describe how the subject wants the thrill of a new love, but is blinded by love in return. Perhaps after their previous relationship, they fear intimacy because they feel it’ll become toxic or empty like before. In the songs second verse, they go on to explain they still dream of a perfect love, one in which they can outrun death itself (death in this case means the end of love itself).
♥ Stereo Lovers: Mine
The Lovers’ arc begins with The Tower card, which represents sudden change and chaos. Perhaps after being unable to find love, The Fool realizes their inability to love will lead them to ruin and in an act of despair they find a way to fulfill their loneliness. The Lovers’ tarot card represents love and harmony, the thing The Fool has been searching for, however the lyrics in Mine seem contradict to this. The song is upbeat and a more positive sounding song in the entire soundtrack, but the lyrics talk about how the subject doesn’t care for intimacy or any kind of real love, only the appearance of it. “Your wild heart glitters / And my eyes shine / You fit so perfectly / With all the golden things of mine” - this lyric might refer to another person who appears to be their perfect match for the subject, but as we’ve learned from Dead of Night, this doesn’t matter, the subject has abandoned any hope for real love and only seeks the ideal.
In this, they acquire a new sense of confidence through materialistic love, in that the ideal match is simply themselves (hence why the Stereo Lovers are split in two). The facade is good enough for everyone else, so it should be for them. This kind of self-love is hollow as its only a means demonstrate a semblance of wholeness, of which the Stereo Lovers certainly are not. This is all a temporary solution to a much bigger problem as illustrated by The Tower and further emphasized by the Stereo Lovers destroying the road, forcing the Fool to fly on a tiny glider. Perhaps this act of wanting to be carefree and soar is the subject’s desire to be as unrestricted as their partner was during The Devil arc.
This is a vain interpretation of love the subject has seems to have fallen into after The Moon’s arc, not for conceited reasons however, but out of necessity to feel okay.
♥ Hermit64: The World We Knew
After experiencing the liberation of The Lovers self-love, The Hermit arc opens with The Chariot, which represents success and determination. Night Drift has the player drive freely on the open road of the “Desert of Doubts” only to come to a screeching halt at Hermit64, waiting patiently on their throne-like chair. The Hermit represents isolation and introspection, taking time to contemplate and understand both the self and the world. In the meta narrative established so far, I believe the subject finds themself doing just this, considering all their experiences with love thus far. They begin to slow down and take time alone and eventually find themself at a standstill in their life unable to continue. Hermit64 uses The World tarot, which represents achievements, wholeness, and completion, as the game running on their VR headset, and sends the Fool into it. In a sense, Hermit64 is playing The Fool in The World video game.
The World We Knew is a slow and somber song with emotional peaks and valleys that plays during the subjects lowest point in their life. From the beginning of the song the lyrics describes the subjects thoughts quite literally on the world they know.
“I’m too young to remember when the world was alive” - The subject is at a time in their life where they don’t feel they’ve experienced enough of life to have had a peak of a “golden era”. They haven’t felt alive since so much of their love life was spent in the relationship in The Devil’s arc they only realized recently was bad for them.
“I’m too old to start changing” - After what the subject has been through during The Moon and Lovers arc, they feel they have changed too much as a person to do so again. They recognize the person they are and all the faults that come with that they deem unable to adapt to new love.
“And too tired revive... the world we knew” - With the previous considered, the subject is simply too tired to subject themself to love again because of the risk of heartache and misery. This also reads as depression and being stuck in one place in life, and how difficult it is to keep moving on with mental illness.
“They say "begin again" / But I'll take any fragments I could find” - Possibly a callback to Begin Again, although doing so leads to the possibility of finding happiness, the subject cannot do so, and would rather live with the memory of when they were happy.
♥ Little Death: Inside
The Death arc opens after the bleak sentiment posed by Hermit64 with The Star as a boat in the ocean of death, which represents hope and faith. At the very bottom of the The Fool’s depression, they have a glimmer of hope and decide to seek it out to see whatever it has to offer them. This leads us to Lovedead City, home to the infamous Little Death who began all this heartbreak. Little Death rides on a white motorcycle similar to how Death in classic tarot cards rides on a white horse, symbolizing purity. Little Death summons Hate Skulls through The Hanged Man tarot card, which represents sacrifice and letting go (which goes hand-in-hand with the Death tarot card). At this point, its clear that all of this means the dreaded end of love Sayonara Wild Heart talks about. I believe the reason these are called Hate Skulls are because the subject/The Fool feels a sense resentment towards themself for not leaving their relationship in The Devil’s arc sooner, and now unable to find love. The act of the destroying of the Hate Skulls with the bow from Temperance, which represents balance and moderation, could represent the subject taking the time to work through their feelings in an attempt to be reborn, now at the brink of death.
The actual song is filled with remorse, but inspires hope in a sense as well. The subject explains how they’re unable to properly express the right words to say, presumably to their partner. Perhaps this reason this lack of communication is associated with Death is because it is what leads to the end of love in every circumstance. The theme of regret could be tied back to The Devil where if the subject was able to find the right words and articulate their feelings, they may have never fallen out of love to begin with. The first and second verse of the song seem to be casual conversations with another person, perhaps what the subject wish they had said. This is further evolved by Little Death violently vomiting puke which could be interpreted as “All the things I need to say / And all the big words (that) seem to stay / On the inside” Alternatively, I like to believe by this point the subject has found someone they can simply speak to about their feelings and experiences to, and in the candid dialogs they have is the powerful notion that they may find love again. Death is inevitable and simply means the end of something, but I believe here it means rather than the end of love, it means the end of all the heartbreak and strife the previous love the subject went through.
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